10/01/2009 @ 3:00PM

Twenty-Two Questions for Wilbur Ross

What’s the biggest business blunder you’ve ever made, and what did you learn from it?

Waiting until I was older than 60 to go into business on my own. I should have done it sooner.

What’s the one thing every first-time entrepreneur should know?

New entrepreneurs should know that it is better to back a mediocre idea that is brilliantly executed than a brilliant idea that is poorly executed.

What’s the last book or article you read that you’d recommend to other entrepreneurs?

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

What one job should every person have to do at least once in their life?

Work directly with consumers.

How do you know when to keep fighting or to cut bait?

You cut bait when either you are out of plausible strategies for solving your problems, or when the incremental capital needed for the proposed strategy is disproportionately large relative to what you already have committed.

Will/should the U.S. have universal health care?

We will get some form of universal health care.

What will be the new retirement age for 2009 grads?

2009 grads should plan to work well past 65.

Finish this sentence: The United States’ role as the leader of the free world depends upon …

The size and strength of our economy relative to others.

Should the government have a say on executive compensation?

Government should only have a say in compensation where government funds have bailed out a company.

Gold: Hoard it, trade it or avoid it?

Trade gold.

You have $100 million to spend in real estate, what do you buy and where?

Buy prime resort property in low-taxed areas at depressed prices.

Are we in a sucker’s rally?

Probably.

You wake up dead broke tomorrow–what do you do?

Look for a job that could evolve into a business.

What keeps you awake at night?

Nothing.

What’s the biggest threat to your industry?

Government intrusions into private sector that make it more difficult to achieve high rates of return.

By the time a trend appears in the mainstream press, is it too late for investors to capitalize on it?

About half of the time.

What 21st-century invention (discovered or not) has the greatest potential to change our lives?